Small quakes strike near San Andreas Fault

Quake centered in Coalinga

Scientists say two small earthquakes have hit the Central Valley close to the San Andreas Fault.

A magnitude-3.6 quake struck about 15 miles southwest of the farming city of Coalinga Tuesday morning. It was followed by a magnitude-3.3 less than a minute later.

The U.S. Geological Survey says the quakes appeared to have occurred on the San Andreas Fault system. The quakes are too small to cause any visible rupture on the surface.

The San Andreas is nearly 800 miles long and runs from a peninsula just north of San Francisco to the Salton Sea near the Mexico border. It's responsible for some of the most devastating quakes in the state's history.